SUMMARY: Having halitosis is no picnic, and having it used against you in an argument or a struggle for authority can be especially embarrassing. Many individuals with bad breath choose to use specialty breath fresheners into order to lessen their oral odor and to give others others less to comment on during a verbal debate.

Posted: April 8, 2011

Having halitosis is no picnic, and having it used against you in an argument or a struggle for authority can be especially embarrassing. Many individuals with bad breath choose to use specialty breath fresheners into order to lessen their oral odor and to give others others less to comment on during a verbal debate.

In the book A Companion to the Anthropology of Education, a chapter titled Argumentation and the Negotiation of Scientific Authority in Classrooms looks into the acknowledgement of bad breath as an argumentative strategy, if a tasteless one.

The chapter's authors use a hypothetical situation in which two students in a science class are discussing a laboratory experiment on the electrolysis of water. One student acts especially stubborn and difficult in order to try to usurp authority from the other, the team states.

At one point, the difficult student whispers "Your breaths stinks" in an effort to undermine the other. While this kind of honesty may not be as common in adults, remarks about bad breath can make you feel hamstrung, especially when you are trying to maintain your authority as, say, a parent or a supervisor.

To save face and stay fresh, it may be advisable to use an oral care probiotic product to replace the halitosis-causing bacteria in your mouth with more productive strains.